Yes, my daughter and her family are still here and a good time is being had by all.  We did go to the top of Denver's capitol building but were disappointed that we could no longer go out on the balcony.  The view of the front range of the Rocky Mountains is all but obliterated by the tall buildings that form the new city skyline.  A bronze plaque once described the various peaks and their heights and as you walked around the balcony each prominent mountain was given its own square plaque with an arrow pointing it out.  Now we are reduced to peering out of the windows and wishing that the view had been preserved.

We also went to the State History Museum and all were quite fascinated by the exhibits presented.  It was a free day at the museum and docents were on hand to give children and adults mini-tours in a number of areas.   We sat in an 1899 classroom, made butter, roped a calf, panned for gold and viewed the beautiful miniature models of various aspects of Colorado's past.  If you come to Colorado, don't miss it.

The Museum of Nature and Science is equally impressive.  My grandchildren were quite taken with the full sized dioramas representing the altitude zones of the mountains and the animals that reside in each.  They loved the mini mine tour and the gold vault that displays gold nuggets that were taken from a number of Colorado's mines.  The dinosaur hall was captivating and the Imax movie, Flight, was super.  My 16 and 14 year old grandsons declared these museums their faves.  They were mine too, when I was a child.  Now, if I can just get them to the Art Museum, we'll have covered the cultural scene.

My ten year old grand daughter dug into the "ragbag" and picked out fabrics for a hand puppet.  I showed her a few basic stitches and with both some hand and machine sewing, she turned out a cute dragon.  We'll explore the old photo albums next and by then the visit will be over.  G'mom and G'pop will go back to a humdrum existence of golf and writing and mini-trips to Aspen and Park City.  It's a hard-knock life!!